The Jim Henson Company and Archaia have entered into a partnership to publish comic books and graphic novels based on popular Henson titles as well as new co-branded original properties.The multi-year deal will involve such Henson properties as Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Mirrormask, Labyrinth and The Storyteller.Boom! Studios currently publishes a comic book series based on Henson’s The Muppets (a property that apparently is not part of the Archaia/Henson agreement), and Tokyopop has released several popular volumes of a black-and-white OEL manga series by Jake Forbes based on Labyrinth.

Representatives of Archaia and the Henson Company will announce creative teams and a release schedule for the initial slate of comics at the San Diego Comic-Con.The Archaia/Henson comic title should ship to retailers late this year.

At the GAMA Trade Show, ICv2 spoke with SJG COO Philip Reed and Munchkin Line Editor Andrew Hackard about plans for licensed games, the amazing sales growth of the brand, and the sales patterns they’re seeing.